ALHR

More than 70 of Australia’s leading disability and civil society organisations have endorsed wide-ranging recommendations to reform the nation’s archaic and degrading migration health laws. The recommendations are  part of a submission made by the Welcoming Disability Campaign to a public review of Australia’s migration health requirement being conducted by the Federal Government. The recommendations … Read More >>

The landmark High Court judgment, which ruled it is unlawful and unconstitutional for the Australian Government to detain people indefinitely in immigration detention, should mark the end of a brutal chapter in Australia’s history. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) NSW Co-Convenor, Ms Stephanie Lee said the decision is an historic judgment that corrects some … Read More >>

Leading human rights lawyers and disability justice experts are calling for an immediate end to indefinite detention laws in Australia that often see people with disabilities abused and victimised, their behaviour criminalised and often becoming victims of the criminal justice system rather than being managed through disability support services. The call follows the recent episode … Read More >>

Welcoming Disability, a joint civil society campaign led by Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) and Down Syndrome Australia, has welcomed the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendation to review discriminatory migration health requirements, which have been described as archaic and degrading by leading disability advocates. Under Australia’s current legal framework otherwise fully eligible visa applicants and … Read More >>

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes the NSW Government’s announcement of a proposed two-strike diversion scheme for all small quantity drug possession as a step in the right direction.  If implemented, people found in possession of small amounts of any illicit drug will receive a fine or access to health programs, rather than face … Read More >>

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has highlighted serious flaws in the New South Wales Government’s Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Vilification) Bill 2023 (the Bill). The Bill seeks to include religious vilification as an offence under the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. Under the Bill, it would become unlawful to publicly invite hatred towards or severely ridicule … Read More >>

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) is deeply troubled by the South Australian Government’s attempts to rush through new anti-protest laws, which threaten to breach Australia’s international human rights law obligations.  The Summary Offences (Obstruction of Public Places) Amendment Bill 2023 (the Bill) seeks to introduce a number of changes, including increasing the penalty for … Read More >>

While the Budget has delivered many positive cost of living measures, more must be done to guarantee greater immediate protections of Australians’ economic and social rights.   Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes the Albanese Government’s commitment to developing a Wellbeing Framework for budget and fiscal policy and the $14.6 billion four-year cost-of-living package included … Read More >>

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes budget measures announced in the 2023-24 Federal Budget which promise modest advancement of the rights of people with disabilities in Australia.  Natalie Wade, Chair of Disability Rights at ALHR said,“While the 2023-24 Budget has made clear the next steps for the financial sustainability of the NDIS, that is … Read More >>

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes ground-breaking legislation developed by the ACT Government that will provide protection for Canberrans with innate variations of sex characteristics. ALHR LGBTI Rights Co-chair, Georgia Burke said, “ALHR commends intersex advocates and allies who have pressed for these Australia first human rights reforms. The measures will protect intersex children … Read More >>

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) commends the Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC on the establishment of a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry to investigate Australia’s human rights framework, with a focus on whether the Federal Government should introduce a Federal Human Rights Act.  The announcement comes soon after the launch of an … Read More >>

Leading human rights experts have warned that National’s Senator Matthew Canavan’s Human Rights (Children Born Alive Protection) Bill 2022 (the Bill) risks a dangerous politicisation of healthcare in Australia by replicating the rhetoric of the US anti-abortion movement and undermining long-settled international human rights standards. The Bill, which is currently the subject of a Senate … Read More >>